Social media marketing is the Hot Thing these days, but is it all cookies and milk for marketers trying to use those tools to their clients benefit?

Miriam Ellis — a small business web developer and search marketer whom you should recognize as a regular commenter here on SBS — dipped her toes into sites like Digg and Reddit and wasn’t impressed with what she saw, specifically in the discussions that take place on those sites.

Miriam emailed me a couple weeks ago to compare her experiences with mine, and did the same with a handful of other search marketers, too. Those conversations led to her post on SEO Igloo:

The debate is about the often gutter-like commentary that happens on those sites, and whether they’re an appropriate marketing venue for small businesses. I like what Barry Schwartz said best:

As a marketer, SEO, SEM or whatever you want to label yourself, you can look at Digg or Reddit as pure business. It is a great tool for link building and viral marketing. Disassociate yourself from the community and consider it business.

That’s pretty much in line with my comments in the article, though I didn’t put it quite so eloquently.